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Our Top 6 Scariest Books (As compiled by the Glass House Press Authors)

This week, we continue on our Halloween countdown and discuss our favorite scary books. Not all of these books are "horror," but scary can be defined in different ways. After all, one man's CHRISTINE is another man's ATONEMENT, right?To celebrate the season, the GH team got together and started talking about the scariest books they've ever read. Warning: only continue if you're not afraid of being frightened!!!!

MARY FAN"I'm probably breaking the rules a bit because this is a dark fantasy rather than straight-up horror, but I'm going to go ahead and name the CHAOS BORN series by Drew Karpyshyn. It's a phenomenal epic fantasy about a dark lord trying to escape the barrier the old gods trapped him behind--and the four humans destined to either free him or stop him. The dark lord's demonic minions escape first, and they are TERRIFYING. But it was terror with a purpose... terror that fit into a larger narrative and a well-constructed world-building structure."

"Stephen King's IT because it made me fear clowns for
the first time. How many books actually create that kind of new fear in
someone?! Also it's been on my mind a lot with the recent news stories about
people in clown costumes scaring people. I change the channel when they come
on. Scares the bejesus out of me."

GEORGE EBEY"Midnight, by Dean
Koontz. Why? This was a seminal book for me. I read it when I was
fifteen and had never come across anything like it before. It actually put me
on the path to being a ravenous reader. It tells the tale of people trapped in
a small town and being persued by pack of bloodthirsty mutants. The premise
sounds scary enough, but Koontz's masterful use of pacing and suspense elevates
the material to true terrifying heights."

"I've never been drawn into a horror before so my favorite scary book
would probably be an odd one - Disclosure by Michael Crichton. The fact
that Tom's life could be ruined by something he didn't understand, something
that made him question his own actions and whether or not he was losing his
mind.... His family was leaving him, his career was taken away.... That book
had my heart pounding beginning to end and no one even got murdered."

Publisher's note: Carrie respectfully refused to take part in this list because she is 1. A bit of a chicken, 2. Doesn't really like horror, and 3. Is already scared of the dark (and clown. And gnomes. And the idea of being locked up in a box. Or buried alive. Or deserted.)